Robert Morris Overcomes Slow Offensive Start, Dominates Eastern Michigan in Second Half

It was an eerily similar showing for a second-straight game for Robert Morris (2-1) in the 69-51 win over Eastern Michigan (0-3) at the UPMC Events Center on Wednesday evening.

After a slow showing through the first two quarters of play for the Colonials, as they held just a 29-28 lead at halftime without making a single three-pointer, they outscored the Eagles 22-7 in the third quarter and went on a 29-7 run over a 12-minute span in the second half.

The game started fast offensively for both teams as Robert Morris held a small 11-8 lead at the five-minute mark of the first quarter. Over the initial first five minutes, the Colonials were shooting 57% from the floor while Eastern Michigan was sitting at 50%.

That all changed after the media timeout as the shots stopped dropping for either team over the next quarter and a half. Despite the lack of offense, the Colonials maintained a small lead throughout the remainder of the first half thanks to a 12-5 scoring run that spanned about 10 minutes of game time.

Robert Morris carried the one-point, 29-28 lead, into halftime with many questions regarding the offense who was shooting just 39% from the field and was 0-for-7 from three. Luckily for the Colonials, the Eagles were shooting even worse at 38%.

Those questions received immediate answers as the third quarter was an offensive explosion for the Colonials. The Yeast sisters started the third-quarter scoring as Timberlynn scored a bucket at the rim and Teigh followed it up with the team’s first three of the game which extended their lead out to 34-28.

Eastern Michigan promptly drained a three in response, but then Ava Leroux and Myriam Traore took over for Robert Morris over the next seven minutes.

Leroux scored seven the Colonials’ next nine points, including her first three-pointer of the season, before Traore followed her up with a personal 7-0 run. The two combined for 14 of the 22 third-quarter points and the Colonials held a 51-40 lead after the third ended.

Then, the Yeast sisters took their turn combining for a scoring run to start the fourth quarter. Both Teigh and Timberlynn made two tough close-range shots, and both drew and-one opportunities.

When their sisterly-run ended, the overall scoring run for Robert Morris sat at 29-7 and the team’s lead sat at 60-40 which all but ended any chance at stealing a win for Eastern Michigan.

After a questionable first half, the Colonials were able to cruise to the eventual 69-51 win in large part because of the quarter-and-half long 29-7 scoring run put together by Leroux, Traore and the Yeast sisters.

The first road test for Robert Morris comes next week when the Colonials travel across town to take on Duquesne at the UPMC Rooney Fieldhouse on Monday followed by a road game at Akron on Friday.

The Colonials will then head off to the state of Florida for a pair of games in the Daytona Beach Classic. They will take on Stetson on November 25th and then Clemson on the following day.